Chapter 65
I’m translating the chapter into the required HTML format and keeping the in-universe text styled where it belongs. Next I’m shaping the narration into natural paragraphs and preserving the glossary terms consistently.CHAPTER_TITLE: Dream Forest and Steel Mountains
With the other three gone, Yoon Sang-hyuk was left alone, drinking wine. Far beyond the window, ships drifted lazily along the Han River.
“Dream Forest.”
It was only natural that the three of them knew nothing about Dream Forest.
Dream Forest was a hunting ground he had discovered while carrying out the chain quest needed to obtain the final quest, the raid on the Demon King’s Castle. After clearing a place called the Altar of Wailing as part of the chain quest that led him to clues about the Demon King’s Castle, the place he reached by taking the exit was Dream Forest.
In truth, if one looked at Dream Forest by itself, it was not as dangerous as he had made it sound to the three of them. The only monsters that appeared there were fairies. Fairies used magic to hunt, which made them rather annoying, but they relied on spirit magic and only low-level magic from the first and second circles, so if one truly wanted to, they could be hunted with ease.
By hunting fairies, with an abysmal probability, one could obtain something called Dream Gold Coins.
That was where the real problem began.
There was a well at the center of Dream Forest. Dream Gold Coins could be used in that well. Toss one into it, and you would receive a random item.
If luck was on your side, you could even obtain a rare-grade item, so in one sense it was an excellent hunting ground. But the problem was that the well did not only give out items.
It also spawned monsters.
And the issue was that the monsters it produced were, at times, absurdly unreasonable.
“It was a Balrog.”
If you were to name the most powerful being among the Demon King’s subordinates, Balrog would be the obvious answer. It had also been the final gatekeeper before entering the Demon King’s Castle.
That monstrous Balrog had emerged when someone had tossed a coin into the well. At the time, Yoon Sang-hyuk had been on the verge of carrying out the final quest. In other words, his level and equipment had already been crushingly superior to every other player’s. It had been a hard fight, but in the end the Balrog had fallen to Yoon Sang-hyuk’s hands.
But if someone were to throw a Dream Gold Coin into that well now and a Balrog appeared, the region would be turned into hell.
“I did warn her, though...”
He had explained it in terms Christina Robianco could understand. But she would almost certainly ignore his warning.
From the fairies, which were easy enough to hunt, she could obtain coins that might, with some luck, produce rare-grade items.
At first she might hesitate, but in the end she would not be able to resist that temptation.
“It’s not guaranteed that a Balrog will spawn, either.”
It would probably be best to leave the Italian problem to the players from Italy.
He had just finished the wine and was about to head to the bedroom when someone called out.
“Lord.”
It was Baekjeong.
“Weren’t you at Castle of Chaos?”
“I came because I had a report to give you.”
“Want a glass of wine?”
“I’d be grateful.”
Sleep would have to wait a little longer. He poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Baekjeong.
“Go on. You’re not here to tell me another Chaos Box turned up, are you?”
“Haha, no. What I came to report isn’t that. It’s about that Park Ho-sung fellow.”
“What about him? Did he get into a fight with the other members?”
Given Park Ho-sung’s odd personality, it would not have been surprising.
“No, it’s that the boy is remarkable.”
“Remarkable?”
“Yes. His magic is incredible.”
“Just how incredible are we talking, for Baekjeong of the famed Masked Mercenary Group to be making such a fuss?”
Baekjeong seemed thirsty, because he drained his wine in one gulp before speaking.
“He’s better than the Crimson Witch.”
“Say something that makes sense. He’s level 187, isn’t he? The Crimson Witch is almost thirty levels higher than that.”
“Exactly why I came to report to you at this hour. Of course, the Crimson Witch knows far more high-circle magic. But that Park Ho-sung’s spell power is no joke. And his speed of casting is incredible as well. I’ve fought the Crimson Witch before, haven’t I?”
Baekjeong was not the sort of man who spoke lightly, nor was he one to exaggerate wildly.
“He uses magic without spells for nearly everything up to the fourth circle.”
If Baekjeong’s words were true, then it really was extraordinary. Even Christina Robianco, the so-called Crimson Witch and the apex of players who had chosen the mage class, was not at that level.
“How is that even possible?”
“I was curious too, so I asked him. What he said was absurd.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Isn’t it all just like this?’”
It was like asking the top student in the entire school how he studied so well, and hearing, “As long as you pay attention in class, isn’t everyone more or less at this level?”
“Once I heard his explanation, I understood a bit. He said that after being dragged into that world, he lived only in the Fire Magic Tower.”
That was something Yoon Sang-hyuk already knew.
“Compared to players who obtained spellbooks and learned magic that way, he studied under native mages of high circles as his masters.”
“You’re telling me he even formed his circles himself, without help from the system?”
“That’s what he said.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk let out a short sound of admiration.
Unlike the natives, players could learn skills very easily.
The easiest way was through skill books. In addition, once they reached a certain level, they could advance to a higher tier of their job, and when that happened, the number of skills they could learn increased. If they obtained high-grade items, they could use the skills embedded in those items immediately.
There were even a few who, like in the real world, trained their swordsmanship by hand. But they were a tiny minority, and even they eventually chose to obtain skills through the methods above.
In that sense, Yoon Sang-hyuk was somewhere in between. He learned skills through skill books and items, but he also trained repeatedly until he became adept at using them.
Yet from Baekjeong’s account, it seemed Park Ho-sung had learned magic purely through effort, without relying on skill books from beginning to end.
Just like the natives who had always lived in that world.
“Impressive.”
He wanted him. But he was not someone he could have.
Park Ho-sung was the man who would have to inherit Park Tae-hoo’s place and become the owner of Yuseong Group.
“Still, maintaining a good relationship wouldn’t hurt.”
Players were not omnipotent. In fact, there were far more things a player could not do with sheer power alone. Yuseong Group, on the other hand, could exert immense influence across South Korea’s political, business, and social spheres. If he maintained a close relationship with Park Ho-sung, he would be able to receive help with things Yoon Sang-hyuk could not do himself.
“Should we handle him specially?”
“Treating him specially won’t make him one of ours. Just think of him as a new recruit who joined recently.”
“Understood.”
Baekjeong rose from his seat and bowed.
“Split the Masked Mercenary Group in two. Have half continue the Castle of Chaos raid, and send the other half with the Balhae Guild to take on the Steel Mountains.”
“The schedule will be tight.”
The Masked Mercenary Group did not only handle the Castle of Chaos raid. They also had to go on expeditions abroad.
“At this point, Steel Mountains is the place where we can catch both money and levels with one shot. I’m not going to let the others enjoy the good stuff all to themselves. We can adjust the expedition schedule. We’ll set a date soon. I’ll go along too.”
“Understood.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Near the foggy region that served as the entrance to the Steel Mountains, several temporary structures had been set up.
A barricade had been installed between the temporary buildings and the fog, and several players stood guard in front of it. The same emblem was engraved on each of their chests.
“By what right is the Balhae Guild controlling this place?”
A man dressed in thick plate mail like a medieval knight and wielding a long two-handed sword barked furiously. Behind him, dozens of people had gathered.
Yang Tae-hoon, an executive of the Balhae Guild standing at the barricade, frowned.
“By what right, you say?”
Yang Tae-hoon took a step toward the man provoking him. The man flinched and stepped back, but then, noticing the eyes of the people watching from behind him, he shouted again even louder.
“I’m saying a player wants to go hunting, so why are you blocking us?”
“Do you not watch the news?”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“You didn’t hear the President say it himself? He announced that management of the Steel Mountains had been fully entrusted to the Masked Castle. What, you’re throwing a fit now because you didn’t know the Balhae Guild belongs to the Masked Castle? Not even the Ten Great Guilds can enter Steel Mountains unless the Masked Castle allows it. The Holy Knight Order and the Sword Demon Forest still can’t get in, either.”
Yang Tae-hoon looked the man in front of him up and down.
“Sigh. Are you even thinking? You want to enter Steel Mountains wearing armor mass-produced by some midsize company, not even drop gear? From the look of it, you’re the main tank, but if you go in like that, you’ll die instantly. Understand?”
After the Balhae Guild began controlling access to Steel Mountains, he had to deal with people like this several times a day.
“If you really want to go in that badly, go to the Masked Castle and get permission from the Masked Lord.”
“That doesn’t even make sense...”
“And does this make sense to you? I’m already tired because there are so many people like you, so why don’t you turn around and go home? And let me offer you a piece of advice, since you seem too proud to hear it: choose a hunting ground that matches your level. TV keeps talking about the Ten Great Guilds hunting Black Knights and how the corpses are worth a fortune, so I’m guessing you got greedy, didn’t you?”
“Ahem...”
Yang Tae-hoon glanced at the people standing behind the man, then lowered his voice.
“Feeling disillusioned with life? You already died once in that other world, so now death doesn’t scare you?”
“What is that supposed to mean...?”
“If you want to die, die alone. Don’t drag innocent people into a place where they’ll die with you. Understand?”
Yang Tae-hoon turned to the Balhae Guild members standing behind him.
“These folks are leaving. Show them out.”
“Yes. Understood.”
As the crowd that had rushed in dispersed, Yang Tae-hoon let out a light sigh. Thinking that he still had to do this for another week before his shift changed was enough to make him sigh.
Still, a week from now, Yang Tae-hoon would be heading out as the Balhae Guild’s representative to join the Masked Mercenary Group in the Steel Mountains raid. He had also heard that the Masked Lord himself would be accompanying them.
The Masked Lord who had killed him and the entire Balhae Guild in Eternal World. And yet Yang Tae-hoon did not resent him. Back then, it had undeniably been the Balhae Guild’s fault. The Masked Lord had warned them more than once to correct what they were doing wrong, but it had been the Balhae Guild that refused to listen.
In truth, after returning to reality, he had always been uneasy. The Masked Lord would be returning to reality as well, and he had been afraid that when he did, he might once again slaughter every Balhae Guild member without exception.
But contrary to those expectations, the Masked Lord had embraced the Balhae Guild. He had not merely forgiven them; he had taken them under his wing.
He had provided them with overwhelming item support, and thanks to that the Balhae Guild members had been able to level up at a rapid pace. The guild’s image, which had hit rock bottom after Master Choi Seok-hyun’s public confession, had also risen sharply.
“This is going to be something.”
Yang Tae-hoon had never been to Steel Mountains in the world of Eternal World. The Steel Mountains had existed before he was killed by the Masked Lord, but the Balhae Guild had not been strong enough to go there.
Waiting for the week to pass as quickly as possible, he turned his head and looked at the towering Steel Mountains.